# The Prioress's Tale explained — The Canterbury Tales

> Chapter companion for The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

## What happens

The Prioress tells a tale of a young Christian boy murdered by Jews for singing a hymn to the Virgin Mary, whose miraculous continued singing leads to the discovery of his body and the punishment of the perpetrators.

## Themes in this chapter

### Corruption and Hypocrisy in the Church

The tale's anti-Semitic violence is presented as pious, highlighting the hypocrisy of religious devotion that leads to murder.

### Sin and Redemption

The boy's martyrdom and miraculous singing represent redemption through faith, while the Jews' punishment underscores sin.

## Character check-ins

### The Prioress

The teller of this tale, a nun who invokes the Virgin Mary and tells a miracle story.

## Key lines

> O Lord, our Lord, how marvellous is thy name in all the world!

The Prioress opens by praising God's name throughout the world.

_Opening invocation of the tale._

> This little child, his little book learning, As he sat in the school at his primer, He Alma redemptoris heard sing, As children learned their antiphoner.

A young boy hears the hymn 'Alma redemptoris' being sung and learns it by heart.

_The boy's devotion to the Virgin Mary is established._

> The Jews, that are a cursed folk, have slain this innocent child, and have cast him into a privy.

The Jews murder the boy and throw his body into a latrine.

_The central act of violence in the tale._

> And ever he sang, O Alma redemptoris mater, So loud that all the place began to ring.

Even after death, the boy continues to sing the hymn miraculously.

_The miracle that leads to the discovery of the body._

> The provost did the Jews to be drawn and hanged, That of this murder knew, and that anon.

The provost immediately has the guilty Jews executed by drawing and hanging.

_The punishment of the perpetrators._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters/the-prioress-s-tale
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters